Women! Lift HEAVY!

I got this article from a trainer’s magazine called “OnFitness”. It's really one of the better trainers' magazines I have found with some real good stuff on nutrition and training as well some really great quotes and inspirational sayings.

I must add that I lift HEAVY 99% of the time (except for legs)... I recently had my metabolic rate (RMR) tested by Isabel Canez, RD (HIGHLY RECOMMEND HER) and mine was a very surprising 35% faster than normal. This is the highest test result she has seen. This can only be answered by the fact that I probably have more muscle than the average female of my age/height/weight. I cannot stress enough that most women should lift heavy.

Women Should Lift—and Heavily
to create curves, tighten up, and lose inches

ByJillian Coleman

So you have a client who has been going to the same fitness center for years. And through the years, she and her buddies there have talked about why their bodies are the exact same shape they were when they all 1st met: “I’ve been coming to the &*^%$ gym like, forever, and I have not lost a &**&^ pound!” And somewhere along the way, the topic of “bulking up” has surfaced: “If I just look at weight, I put on muscle! That’s why I do tons of cardio. But dang, my thighs are still fat!”

These women have never talked about how to change body fat percentage, how to lose inches or how to increase the intensity of that popular barbell class.

So how are you, the new (or inexperienced) trainer, going to deliver results and keep this trainee from spinning her wheels? The trick to losing inches, strengthening bones, increasing metabolic rate and turning your trainee into fat-burning machine is simple: Lift Heavy!

Is there such a thing as “bulking up?”

What about the much feared bulking up? Is there such a thing? Yes, but it’s not from putting on excess muscle mass. You’ve probably heard plenty from your female trainees that one of their biggest concerns is the dread of bulking up, as they insist that their legs or shoulders respond quickly to heavy weights, that they put on size easily with heavy resistance. (I wonder what all those skinny men, who eat and eat and lift and lift and still can’t put on size, would think of these claims!).

The truth is that bulking up does not happen to women unless there is no effort applied to fat burning. The idea is to lift heavy and get out of your comfort zone (i.e. Within 10-12 reps the weight should become too heavy to lift), so that your body responds by breaking down the muscle tissue and building you back up stronger and leaner.

When gym-goers refer to bulking up, what he or she is really describing is the larger appearance that exists when the same amount of fat remains on top of this newly developed muscle.

The best scenario is to burn fat, build muscle, lose inches, and reveal a more sculpted muscle belly and actually overall smaller limbs. However, it is a unique situation because the only way to get the fat off is to lift weights that challenge the muscles to grow and increase the body’s amount of lean body mass. Consider that a pound of muscle burns 30-50 calories at rest each day, where as a pound of fat burns only 2-5 calories per day. This clearly shows that the more lean muscle mass a person has, the more calories burned at rest.

In other words, with each pound of muscle mass acquired, the trainee increases metabolism and burns more calories just sitting at a desk. On top of the calorie comparison is the fact that muscle takes up considerably less space than fat; thus, losing fat while gaining muscle causes an overall loss in inches. The benefit of increased muscle is even greater during a workout. The more lean muscle mass a trainee has, the more calories are toasted off during the workout.

For example, take two 150 lbs. women, same-age women, one with 20% body fat and the other with 40%. The woman with less body fat will burn a lot more calories if the 2 engage in the same workout.


Lifting Heavy Weights is the #1 way to change the shape of the body

Everyone knows that cardio queen at the gym: on the elliptical machine for hours or doing step class after cycle class after kick box class. Chances are this person is thin. But, she probably doesn’t look athletic, toned, or tight. In fact, it’s not uncommon see a woman going at it on the cardio equipment who initially looks strikingly thin. But if you view her for a few moments longer, you’ll notice that her midsection (which is often bare) is soft and has a spread-like or dough-like quality about it; ‘round and ‘round her pipe cleaner legs go, and you can bet she has trouble carrying heavy grocery bags.

This “thin” woman hardly touches the weights. She’s 20-something and her youth protect her from being blubbery. But if she continues to shy away from serious weight lifting, this fear will eventually catch up to her. By age 35, she’ll be taking clothes off the size 12 or 14 rack.The thing that happens when someone does a lot of cardiovascular activity is essentially the same thing that happens when he or she lifts lighter weights; using a lot of reps. They get smaller or larger but always have the same exact frame. In other words, their curves, or lack there of, are the same. Jog all you want, but only heavy resistance training can change the shape of the body to create a loss in inches and a more balanced physique.

How to lose the fat on top of the muscle

In order to burn fat while maintaining muscle mass, it’s important to use exercises that affect the hormonal situation in the body. The amount of weight lifted, or more specifically, the volume of weight lifted, is directly correlated to the amount of testosterone released by the body. And the amount of testosterone released by the body is directly correlated to the amount of fat the body will burn.

Women should not be afraid of testosterone. In fact, even when women are able to create higher levels of testosterone, they will never have enough to create a masculine look without the help of anabolic (“banned substances”) supplementation, not to mention a lot of time in the gym and at the protein shake blender.

The key to changing the hormonal situation to become an efficient fat-burner is to achieve both mechanical and metabolic failure in a workout. Mechanical failure occurs when the weight lifted simply becomes too heavy to be lifted anymore and assistance is needed. Metabolic failure occurs when trainees experience that burning sensation in their muscles.

Efficient weight-lifting should yield one or both of these phenomena, and this is the most important time to squeeze out one or two more reps. Reaching the point of failure ensures the release of testosterone and human growth hormone to maximize fat-burning both during the workout and deep into the hours following.

How to maximize Fat-Burning

An important point to remember is that everyone has a different level of fitness. To ascertain the correct amount of intensity and the correct amount of rest, use the talk test. During working sets, an individual should be out of breath and speech should be labored. Once the set is over, wait 1-2 minutes (but no more!) before beginning the next set or exercise.Make the trainee truly reaches failure, in order to “earn” a 1-2 min rest. The last few reps should be a heartfelt struggle. In fact, in a 6 rep max set, the struggle is evident from the 1st rep. In an 8 rep max set, struggle may not be evident in the 1st or 2nd rep, but come in the 3rd or 4th rep, the trainee clearly begins to fight.

Sometimes, as a trainer, it’s hard to discern the point at which a trainee is lifting heavily enough to get real results. Pulling out a weight that generates failure within 8-12 reps is a good idea here. This part may take some trial and error, but I would always recommend choosing a weight heavier than lighter. Only 4 or 5 reps may be the result of the 1st try, but at least failure is reached and the muscles are being forced to react. For the 2nd set, decrease the weight only slightly, and still try to induce failure by rep 7 or 8. For the final set, keep the weight the same or decrease it only slightly to induce failure at rep 9 or 10, even if “loose” form is necessary.

Both trainers and clients probably agree that safety is the number one priority while resistance training. However, in the name of heavy weight-lifting to generate results, remember that loose form here and there is perfectly fine and in fact, recommended in the last rep or two for the sake of the workout. (Loose form is that which, for the most part, continues to adhere to proper biomechanics, but there’s a slight component of cheating --- but not to the extent that the trainee is risking injury or defeating the purpose).

If someone is skilled or has a good amount of experience weight-lifting, use this technique to generate the burn and get a little deeper into failure mode. However, remember that if someone is extremely frail or a beginner, he or she should ease into resistance training and steer clear of cheat reps or swinging weight until more comfortable with the movements.

Additional Benefits to heavy resistance training

Everyone has heard that resistance training helps to increase bone density or maintain bone health once a person reaches the mid 30’s. What most fitness professionals forget is that the benefits for bone increase almost linearly with the amount of weight lifted.

Most trainers will shy away from using heavier weights with older adults and those with existing injuries. A good trainer will put safety first, but heavy weights can be used safely and effectively I even the frailest populations, and are the absolute best way to stimulate bone growth. Both the fit and frail should be lifting heavy and reaping the benefits.

Additional muscle development increases neural function including balance and coordination, along with core development and even flexibility. Achieving failure safely in a workout will prime the nervous system and provide more functional advantage than using balance boards and other functional devices. After all, a stronger and more flexible leg is automatically more stable.

Some of the best exercises to profit in this way include clean presses, heavy barbell squats, or barbell push-presses. Experiment with hybrid movements that challenge both the upper and lower body together such as a squat and press or a lunge curl and press. These types of exercise provide superior benefit over the current trend of using single-joint movements coupled with a balance board.

As a personal trainer, I have seen first hand the incredible balance and coordination advances, plus improvement in fat-burning, noticeable inches lost and a tighter, shapelier and leaner physique achieved through lifting heavy weights.